She still followed her heart and entered my embrace.
However, I only guaranteed before she fell asleep. As for how I would reclaim the interest on the morning's slap after she fell asleep, that's beyond her control.
One can only say the body of a teenage girl is truly soft, tender, fragrant, and springy. I wonder if any of you tried it when you were young.
After another week of walking through the desert's heat and cold, we finally reached the ruins where the teleportation magic circle marked by Orsted was located.
It was indeed much faster than the journey here.
After using the method taught by Orsted, we entered the interior of the ruins.
After entering, I discovered this place was very similar to the teleportation magic circle ruins in the forest near Sharia.
AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
They should all be transfer magic circles established by the Dragon Race. It seems that after the destruction of the Dragon World, although the Dragon Race has never openly appeared anywhere on the continent.
However, upon closer inspection, there are Dragon Race ruins everywhere on the continent.
I feel that the Dragon Race might have used some secret method to make their characteristics disappear, hiding in some human settlement.
After all, looking at Orsted's human form, apart from his vertical pupils, there's nothing different from a human.
Perhaps one day, if I come across a town where everyone wears sunglasses, that might be a Dragon Race village!'
After venturing deeper into the ruins, we found the teleportation array room.
But a tragedy occurred. The teleportation array had no effect at all, as if it hadn't been activated. No matter how I operated it, it remained motionless, with no response.
I was desperate. Did Orsted give us an inactive teleportation array? Or was the other side of the teleportation array destroyed by someone?
What should we do then? If we walk back to the Central Continent from here, it would probably take another three years to reach the Asura Kingdom.
Even going directly to the Bekalite Continent would take more than two and a half years.
Just as I was scratching my head and letting my mind wander, I unexpectedly noticed Shizuka Nanase standing at the doorway, looking at me with an amused expression.
It suddenly occurred to me that she had traveled with Orsted for a long time; she must know something I don't.
I walked over to Shizuka Nanase, rubbing my hands like a fly, and said to the beautiful lady with a beaming smile:
"Oh, wise Lady Shizuka Nanase, seeing your confident smile, I'm sure you already have a way to repair this transfer magic circle!"
"Hmph, I wouldn't know. I forgot everything when I was forcibly kissed by a scoundrel."
I rubbed my head and gave an awkward smile. It had been 20 years since anyone called me a scoundrel. I must say, I missed it a little.
"Shizuka Nanase, I truly couldn't help myself at the time. If I saw such a beautiful lady throw herself into my arms again and remained indifferent, showing no reaction at all, I would consider that an insult to you.
Think about it, when you're out shopping with your boyfriend, wearing beautiful clothes, but he's staring at other women in beautiful clothes across the street, completely ignoring you. Would you think he's a noble gentleman at that moment, or would you think he's a scumbag who doesn't respect you at all?
I believe you already know the answer to this question."
"Hmph, sophistry. Who said I'm your girlfriend? You have so many confidantes in this world; don't think I'm as foolish as those silly women from another world, revolving around you. You're a scumbag."
Awkward. I've been in this world for too long, I forgot that Shizuka Nanase is an Earth woman. Her views are the same as the Millis Religion followers in this world. It's safe to say that from the very beginning, she wouldn't like a man like me who dreams of a harem.
I was careless.
"Alright, well, if you can't accept it, I can only wish you happiness in finding love. I will still help you return to Earth. Then we will live in two different worlds. You won't see a scoundrel like me anymore. Out of sight, out of mind, and you'll be happy, right?"
"Hmph."
She seemed to want to say something, but she didn't. I didn't know how to coax her either.
Firstly, I can't return to Earth with her. Secondly, I can't abandon the other women in this world who still care about me in their hearts because of her.
After a long silence, I don't know if I saw it wrong, but tears seemed to well up in the corners of her eyes.
She didn't continue confronting me. She walked forward, approached the transfer magic circle, and blew a whistle. *Pffft—!*
After Shizuka Nanase blew the whistle forcefully, I seemed to hear a whistle in my mind, but nothing happened in reality, and the whistle made no sound.
I probably guessed what she was doing.
After waiting for another ten-odd seconds, a handsome man suddenly appeared before us.
He had blond hair and wore a stiff suit similar to a white-collared student uniform, fastened in the front. His presumably handsome face was hidden beneath a yellow mask. The mask had a fox drawn on it, and a large dagger was tucked into his waist.
This should be Almanfi the Radiant, one of the Twelve Familiars under Armor Dragon King Perugius.
His appearance didn't surprise me, but I still appropriately adopted a combat stance, my right hand covering the hilt before drawing my meteorite sword, and with my left hand, I pulled Shizuka Nanase into my embrace.
Hehe, I'm not actually this kind of person; I learned all this from Aisha. Although Shizuka Nanase might not have any development with me, letting her know that I care about her is much better than her hating me.
Almanfi and I both spoke, demanding, "Who exactly are you!"
My voice was clearly more resolute, so I didn't actively answer his question.
Shizuka Nanase quickly pressed down on the treasured sword in my right hand with both hands, saying anxiously,
"Stop, I summoned him. He is Almanfi the Radiant, one of the Twelve Familiars under Armor Dragon King Perugius. Almanfi, you shouldn't attack either. He and I are friends; I just didn't explain clearly to him."
With Shizuka Nanase's intervention, I lowered the sword in my right hand. I already knew his identity; I was just taking the opportunity to break the awkward atmosphere with Shizuka Nanase.
However, my audacity also stemmed from my recent significant improvement in Water God Style techniques. According to the Water God Style grading system, mastering one profound technique is a Water Saint, and learning two profound techniques can be called a Water King. My 'Kanryu' is now perfected, and 'Time Flow' can accelerate to 10 times the speed. Calling myself a Water King shouldn't be an exaggeration.
Almanfi could only fight Ghislaine to a draw back then, so with my current strength, even just using Water God Style, I shouldn't lose. Moreover, Water God Style is only one of my attack methods.
After Shizuka Nanase pressed my hand down and announced the other party's name, I also returned the courtesy.
"My apologies, please forgive my impulsive behavior just now. I am Shizuka Nanase's friend, and my name is Daolin Prodia Grellat. Please take care of me."
At this time, it's better to be humble, considering it an apology for using Almanfi earlier. Besides, we'll probably need to borrow someone else's teleportation array soon. It feels a bit awkward.
Seeing my returned courtesy, Almanfi seemed to put aside some of his proud self-esteem. He didn't reply to me but spoke to Shizuka Nanase.
"Shizuka Nanase, shouldn't you be in Sharia? Why have you come to the Demon Continent? What business do you have with me, or rather, with Lord Perugius, this time?"
"Lord Almanfi, Lord Orsted brought us to the Demon Continent this time. He left after reaching his destination and gave us this address. I think he wants us to use Lord Perugius's transfer magic circle to return to Sharia. So, could you please help us contact Lord Perugius and ask if we can use the transfer array to return to Sharia?"
Upon hearing Orsted's name, I clearly felt Almanfi tremble all over. It seems that even as a Familiar, he is not immune to Orsted's curse.
Almanfi then disappeared after agreeing to relay the message. Shizuka Nanase and I also fell back into silence. I don't know if she forgot, or for some reason, she never left my embrace.
Perhaps she was also deceiving herself, trying to forget the reality that I was still holding her.
After about 5 minutes, neither of us spoke a word. Our heartbeats echoed exceptionally loudly in this cramped basement. *Thump, thump.*
Like a race, both hearts were constantly speeding up until light reappeared, and Almanfi returned to the room. Only then did she frantically leave my embrace.
"Lord Perugius has agreed to your request. Come with me now to seek an audience!"
Then he handed us a stick. This should be the magic wand that can teleport, and then he disappeared.
A few minutes later, Shizuka Nanase and I both vanished from the stone room.
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